BENJAMIN WACHS: Brooks needs to stand for something

Benjamin Wachs

Thursday

Mar 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMMar 29, 2012 at 2:51 AM

I hate to be a back-seat consultant, but I think Maggie’s getting bad advice. These errors reek of communications “experts” and campaign “professionals” phoning in a playbook from a student council election.

Now that Maggie Brooks is running for Congress, you can expect a lot of people to talk about her record. So far she isn’t one of them. Whenever asked, Maggie has said that she and her campaign aren’t ready to talk about issues yet.

It’s a baffling flub for an otherwise capable communicator. I mean, if Maggie isn’t running specifically to make a difference on the issues, why is she running?

Maggie’s message to voters is: “We’ll figure that out later.” She’s looking for poll numbers when she’s asked to speak from her heart.

Whose idea was that?

The fact that she made her announcement at the Monroe County Airport, the single biggest symbol of scandal and cronyism in her entire tenure as county executive, also might have been a flub.

Even if an airport somehow spoke to our hopes and dreams (which it doesn’t), even if an airport were a good place to announce anything besides a departure time (which it’s not), one would think Maggie’s campaign would do everything it could to have voters not think about a fiasco of rotating directors, cigars paid for by public funds and drunk driving.
One would think.

I hate to be a back-seat consultant, but I think Maggie’s getting bad advice. These errors reek of communications “experts” and campaign “professionals” phoning in a playbook from a student council election.

Brooks is better than this. In time, I have no doubt she’ll show it. She’s an excellent manager who’s extremely good at connecting with voters. Count on her to get her game back and run a well-oiled campaign.

The trouble is she’s the likely opponent of Louise Slaughter, a woman who speaks directly to voters’ hearts – and who specializes in exactly the kind of passion for the job that has always been Maggie’s soft spot.

Maggie isn’t ready to talk policy, but Louise has signature issues: She’s one of very few scientists in congress, and she wants to make sure our policies on new medicines and use of antibiotics make sense. She’s the author of a bill that would prevent members of Congress from using information they’re given through their government duties to make money on the stock market (something that would be illegal for the rest of us). She’s a staunch defender of civil liberties. Does she need to further study the issues surrounding women’s health that are coming up before Congress? No she does not.

Ask Louise why she’s running, and she’ll tell you it’s because she has a chance to make a difference on these issues – issues that are specific, and clear and meaningful.

Maggie, for all her skill in connecting with voters, has never had such straightforward answers. She ran for county executive because the party needed a fresh face to beat Bill Johnson and she had great approval ratings – not because she cared about particular issues. Across three campaigns her message has always been something generic about prosperity and taxes. You couldn’t tell it apart from anyone else’s generic message about prosperity and taxes.

History’s repeating itself: Maggie’s running for a new office because the party needs someone popular in the new district, and she’s running on a message so generic it can be bought over the counter.

It’s a pattern that’s served her well in the past. Bill Johnson was also a popular and passionate incumbent who had signature issues. Sandy Frankel … kinda … was. Brooks was generic and beat them both. Her campaign appears to be counting on a trifecta.
It’s a mistake.

For all of Johnson’s gifts, he had no campaign experience outside of his mayoral runs, and it showed. Frankel was to county executive candidates what Gilbert Gottfried is to the Oscars.

If the advice Maggie’s getting is to campaign (at the airport) with her head down and see which way the wind blows … Maggie, that’s bad advice. Louise Slaughter is a hurricane.
If you don’t want to get blown away, you need to stand for something.

Benjamin Wachs writes for Messenger Post Media, and is the editor of Fiction365.com. Email him at Benjamin@Fiction365.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.